


Little Talks

by Peridaniel



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: F/F, Song fic, ghost - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2021-01-06 03:43:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21219998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peridaniel/pseuds/Peridaniel
Summary: On the anniversary of her fallen lover's death, Willow sings a duet with a ghost.





	Little Talks

**Author's Note:**

> So, this has been an idea that's been in my mind for a while. I've always wanted to write a songfic to this song because I love it, and I always knew I wanted it to be someone singing it with their deceased lover. I decided to make it Willow and Tara because... I dunno, really. Because I've been watching a lot of clips and sad edits of them lately maybe? My original plan, actually, was to write this idea as an epilogue/bonus content for one of my other fics. 
> 
> Also, I think the reason I decided to go through with this is because it's almost Halloween and spoopy stuff like ghosts is on my mind. This isn't really "Halloween-y," but fuck it. It's ghosts.

It was the worst when the house was empty. Silent. Still. The only sounds being the thoughts running rapidly through Willow's mind. 

It was okay sometimes; it could be pretty good, in fact. It would give her some concentration to meditate, or to do work at a productive rate. When either of those were the case, the silence and emptiness was good. Cleansing, even. 

But on May 7th, the anniversary of Tara's death, the woman Willow loved more than anything, silence and emptiness were far from good. There were no cleansing thoughts running through her mind. Only repeated flashbacks of the event that had taken her dear partner's life, the pang of all the guilt resurfacing, and the thoughts of what might have been if Warren hadn't shot that damn gun. 

Willow felt herself robotically wander over to the kitchen. She blankly stared out the window, deep in thought. Sunlight was shining through the trees and onto the grass just like how it had been on the day Tara was shot. 

"God, it's been so long," she whispered, feeling a set of tears welling up in her eyes. "Why can't I ever get over this and move on?" She blinked the tears away and twisted up her face. "And why am I talking to myself?" 

As she walked out of her kitchen and back into the living room, she began to feel her voice break into a song. _"I don't like walkin' around this old and empty house..."_

_"So hold my hand, I'll walk with you, my dear."_

Willow's head shot up at the familiar voice. She looked around, and saw no one, but felt as if someone else was present. 

She slowly began to walk up the stairs, hearing them creak below her, and began to sing more. _"The stairs creak as you sleep, it's keeping me awake."_

_"It's the house telling you to close your eyes."_

_"And some days I can't even dress myself,"_ Willow continued to sing as she walked briskly to the bedroom. 

_"It's killing me to see you this way."_

Willow sat on her bed and looked up at the ceiling, after which the two voices joined to sing the next lines. 

_"Cause though the truth may vary, this_  
_Ship will carry our_  
_Bodies safe to shore."_

As Willow looked around the room, she saw a translucent silhouette stand in front of her. Any other time, she would have been afraid, but seeing the familiar brown hair, blue eyes, and warm half-smile the figure had, she felt safe with the ghost. 

As she thought about the guilt and sorrow she felt during that day, and how she always felt every year on that dreaded anniversary date, Willow began to sing again. _"There's an old voice in my head that's holding me back."_

_"Well, tell her that I miss our little talks,"_ Tara's spirit sang back, reaching out for Willow's hand.

Willow instinctively tried to grab the hand, but couldn't touch. _"Soon, it will be over, and buried with our past."_

_"We used to play outside when we were young, and full of life, and full of love."_ A Polaroid levitated from off the floor under Willow's bed, displaying an image of her and Tara goofing around with Dawn. 

Willow grabbed the picture and smiled, but looked back up at the ghost, her smile fading. _"Some days, I don't know if I am wrong or right."_

_"Your mind is playing tricks on you, my dear,"_ Tara sang with a reassuring, yet eerie smile.

_"Cause though the truth may vary, this_  
_Ship will carry our_  
_Bodies safe to shore."_

Willow felt her heart rate soar as she and Tara continued to sing together, the ghost's eyes beginning to glow, followed by its whole figure. 

_"Don't listen to a word I say!_   
_The screams all sound the same!_  
_Though the truth may vary, this_  
_Ship will carry our_  
_Bodies safe to shore."_

As Willow looked at her lover's ghost, her thoughts once again fell to the memories. She remembered the Wicca group meeting when she first met Tara, shy and unsure of herself. She remembered the first spell they cast together, holding hands as they barricaded the door with a vending machine. She remembered the hours spent in each other's dorms, casting spells and playing with Miss Kitty Fantastico. She remembered falling asleep in each other's arms, taking care of Dawn, helping Buffy, Willow's descent into magic addiction... 

And finally, she remembered the death. The sudden _bang_ of a gunshot. The shattering of the glass. The hole ripping through Tara's body. The stain of blood on her shirt. 

"Your shirt..." 

Willow felt tears streaming down her face as the fresh memory of holding her girlfriend in her arms flooded back into her mind. Seeing her eyes closed. Her body lifeless. 

She sang once again, Tara's ghost still joining along, but now more quiet and faded. 

_"You're gone, gone, gone away,_  
_I watched you disappear_  
_All that's left is a ghost of you."_

Willow reached out once again to the ghost, which in turn, held out its hand to hers. Once again, they couldn't make contact. 

_"Now, we're torn, torn, torn apart,_  
_There's nothing we can do_  
_Just let me go, we'll meet again soon."_

The ghost began to fade away, but its singing got much stronger and louder as it joined with Willow's. 

_"Now wait, wait, wait for me!_   
_Please hang around_   
_I'll see you when I fall asleep!_

_Don't listen to a word I say!_   
_The screams all sound the same!_   
_Though the truth may vary, this_   
_Ship will carry our_   
_Bodies safe to shore."_

Though the ghost had faded away, its voice still sang with Willow as she lay down on her bed. 

_"Though the truth may vary, this_  
_Ship will carry our_  
_Bodies safe to shore."_

The other voice had stopped, but Willow still sang on her own, holding the Polaroid she still had in her hands close to her chest as tears hit her pillow. 

_"Though the truth may vary, this_   
_Ship will carry our_   
_Bodies safe to shore."_

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked that and hope it didn't hurt too much. I'm honestly surprised I didn't start crying while writing this, since I'm usually in ugly tears within five seconds of watching or reading anything about Tara's death. Like, not even dignified, subdued "man tears." More like "Niagara falls of tears while ugly sobs rise up from my throat and my nose gets all gross and runny" tears. Feels bad, man.


End file.
